Main emphasis given on lives and livelihoods

The ever biggest Taka 6,3681 crore proposed budget for 21-22 fiscal announced yesterday at the Jatiyo Sangsad has given main emphasis on improvement of lives and livelihoods of the people with an ultimate objective to successfully reach the status of a middle-income nation within the stipulated time-frame. 

Bangladesh, once one of the poorest countries of the world that started its journey with an annual budget of Tk.786 crore, has now become   the 41st economy in the world. Nonetheless, as per prediction of the Center for Economic and Business Research (CERB), a British economic research body Bangladesh will become the 21st largest economy in the world by 2035 which is a testimony that the country is successfully heading towards its goal to build a Golden Bengal (Sonar Bangla) that dreamt by its founding Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  

The proposed budget designed in such a manner that could upheld in correct perspective the extraordinary pace of development of Bangladesh that has stunned the world and recognized as the role model of development in the present day world and became a "wonder of the wonders". 

The country that is now at the glittering golden line in the development horizon has gathered high appreciation of the galaxy of world leaders like US President, British Premier, Indian Prime Minister, Chinese President,  Russian President, UN Secretary General and others  which totally discarded  the remark of defamed Dr. Hennery Kissinger who called Bangladesh a "Bottomless Basket".    If a careful scrutiny is made over the highlights of the proposed budget it would definitely substantiate the proud utterances of   Bangabandhu that ""Bangladesh has come, Bangladesh will remain."  No one could suppress indomitable fearless Bangabandhu and the Bengali nation.

In his budget speech, Finance Minister A F M Mostafa Kamal has righty said, 

" You are aware that Bangladesh has changed in many ways in the last five decades. However, there has been no change in Bangabandhu's everlasting ideals and his lively presence is felt in all spheres of our national life. Bangladesh is moving forward on the path shown by him. This year marks the golden jubilee of independence and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation. "

The  budget of FY2021-2022 has been presented against the backdrop of global crisis stemmed from the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic where countries around the world are battling with second and third wave of the pandemic. The epicenter of the pandemic has recently shifted towards Asia, particularly to South Asia region that is also impacting Bangladesh. In the budget correct thrust has laid down to combat Corona pandemic, especially with the application of digital system. 

The proposed budget has enriched with the visionary philosophy of the dynamic daughter of Bangabandhu Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina." Under the strong leadership of the legendary Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the icon of modern Bangladesh, the stories of success and development are being written one after another, which even surpass fairy tales. Standing at a vantage point, when the nation is celebrating the golden jubilee of independence, I would like to focus on extra-ordinary successes of our government during the last twelve years. Bangladesh is now at a critical juncture in its development journey. Bangladesh a decade ago and today's Bangladesh are not the same. Today's Bangladesh is in the process of transformation. We have passed a golden era in the history of Bangladesh, which is highly acclaimed", the Finance Minister said. 

The various successes noted in the proposed budget like GDP growth, per capita income, reduction of poverty level, average life expectancy, women empowerment, record foreign exchange reserve, lower inflation rate, social safety nets, implementation of mega projects and other socio-economic heads indicates that Bangladesh is now at the right path of development that gives an indication of future progress and prosperity.  

 The proposed budget indicates that Bangladesh is an example of economic progress and a country of great hope and opportunity. It also reflects the high potentialities of the heroic Bengali nation capable to sustain under any situation.  The budget also gave right direction to face post-transition challenges as well as enunciated correct approach to evolve strategies to deal with the post-graduation situation when we will step  in to a  middle income nation.  

The budget that has been presented  against the backdrop of global crisis stemmed from the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic where countries around the world are battling with second and third wave of the pandemic  has  also gave correct direction to cope with such situation and keep moving the wheels of country's development and prosperity. The government believes that, every challenge creates lots of opportunities and windows for moving forward. So, there will be new opportunities for us from the scars of COVID-19 global pandemic and the government will take every necessary step to utilize those.

"The main impetus of our economic activities is our people. So, this year’s budget will provide highest importance to the lives and livelihoods of the people. With the improvement of the socio-economic condition of the people, we will achieve our planned targets of 2030 (sustainable development goals), 2031 (upper middle income country), 2041 (high income country) and 2100 (implementation of Bangladesh Delta Plan)" the finance minister observed.